AUTOMOTIVE PRACTICES/PRE MOTORCYCLE RIDER PROGRAM

A school-based novice motorcycle rider program has been developed to assist students in achieving the motor skill coordination required to operate and control a motorcycle safely. The stimulus-response (S-R) teaching method is utilized, i.e. the student receives a stimulus through any of the five senses which produces a precise physical response. S-R learning units consist of several muscular movements (of the arms, fingers, legs, feet) presented as an individual event. The student links together two or more S-R units which can be restated and demonstrated in the proper order. The hands-on program comprises three phases: cognitive, fixation, and autonomous. The 40-hour course is taken as an elective for the duration of the school year and students proceed according to their own ability, with some moving through the early stages of the autonomous phase. The teaching/learning strategy, coupled with the S-R units, provides rapid feedback for teacher and student of any breakdown in the learning sequence. Close monitoring has shown that students are successfully learning and mastering motorcycle riding skills.